It's Time To: November

The last of the spring blooms are falling. The mauve carpets of Jacaranda flowers are covering lawns and the throng of the crickets and songs of the frogs has begun.

Elizabeth Swane has a list of the last remaining spring jobs to be done in preparation for a big summer ahead.

 

 

Photo - Robin Powell

Admire

The stunning flowers of tall bearded iris have silky petals in a painter’s palette of dazzling colours. The rhizomes need sun exposure; don’t be tempted to bury these treasures.

Plant

Try an ornamental and productive tropical fruit plant. Consider a coffee or feijoa hedge, mango or avocado shade tree, quick-cover passionfruit or banana screen.

Plan ahead for the holiday season: fill pots or troughs with heat-loving flowering plants such as petunias, verbenas and salvias for a cheery welcome. Plant a few extras as gifts.

Trim

Regularly dead head spent rose blooms, including a good length of stem, to maximize follow-up flowers. Apply rose food after each flush of blooms and water in well.

Prune spring-only bloomers such as banksia rose and old-fashioned, spring-flowering roses as they finish flowering to encourage side shoots and more flowers next season.

Protect

Apply a protective coating of Droughtshield or Envy to tender, large-leafed shrubs such as hydrangeas and mist flowers (Bartlettina) to prevent wilting on hot dry days.

Avoid water stress in citrus trees as they set next season’s fruit. Give trees a deep weekly soaking and mulch around the root zone to help retain soil moisture.

Raise the mower blades a notch or two. A longer lawn copes better during hot weather as the leaf blades shade the grass roots. Take advantage of a rainy day to boost growth using an organic lawn food.

A layer of mulch, 35 mm thick, helps plants cope with the hot, dry weather by retaining soil moisture, and keeping roots cool.